3GSM Barcelona 2007 live coverage

LG made a strong market presence for themselves with the start of their Black Label series with the LG Chocolate. After exploring the Chocolate theme to the max, they turned their attention to a new model family. It will be produced under the exclusive fashionable Black Label series again, but it will be based on an all-metal construction with a shiny surface. We are talking about the LG KE970 Shine and its modifications - the bar-shaped KE770 and the still unnamed Shine clamshell.

As you can see the LG stand at the 3GSM 2007 congress revolved around the Shine theme and they were more than proud to show it off as much as possible. The LG stand was all about style and luxury - the same feels they ate trying to convey with their mobile phones.

LG stand

LG Shine

Besides the all-metal body with a mirror-like finish which reflects the surroundings when the display is off, the LG KE970 or Shine features an innovative scroll-key navigation, a 2 megapixel camera with Schneider-Kreuznach lens and a TFT display with a QVGA resolution. The Shine feels a bit overweight when held in hand, but that's of course due to all the metal that went into its construction. The scroll-key doesn't really serve some extraordinary function and it seems that it is used only for style purposes. We haven't seen a mobile phone with such a scroll key since Nokia 7110 and that was a really long time ago. Yet, the 7110 had some real issues with dust gathering under the scroll key making navigation impossible. That is the reason why Nokia never used that design again. But then again perhaps LG have managed to make it dust-proof this time. In terms of user interface, the LG Shine uses the same one as the previous models based on the Chocolate. It must be noted that the 2 megapixel camera is a lot quicker than the same one used in the LG Chocolate Platinum, a mobile we reviewed not long ago.

LG KE970 Shine slider

LG KE770 and the Shine clamshell

The LG KE770 follows the same design as the Shine slider but in another form factor. It scores in style as easily as its slider brother. Specifications of the LG KE770 are not yet known since its not being officially announced here at the 3GSM 2007 but only showcased. In much the same way the Shine clamshell was shown here at the LG stand with the only aim of showing the LG roadmap for the future of the Shine series. Specifications are still not known and the mobile doesn't even have an official model designation.

LG KE770 Shine bar

LG Shine clamshell with yet unknown model number

LG KS10

An interesting addition to the current LG model lineup is the LG KS10 smartphone. The LGKS10 is a HSDPA-enabled slider with a large 2.4" 262K colors TFT display with a QVGA resolution. It also boasts a microSD memory card slot, 80MB of integrated memory and a 2 megapixel camera with auto focus. The interesting thing about it is that it is based on the Symbian OS with S60 user interface which practically makes it identical to the Nokia smartphone solutions. It's a stylish mobile and with the added smartphone functionality it will most certainly become a popular model.

LG KS10 S60 slider

LG KU250 and the KU950

There are two new mobiles that were announced by the Korean manufacturer during the 3GSM world congress. The first one is the LG KU250 - a bar-shaped 3G mobile with small size. It features a 1.7" 262K colors TFT display with a resolution of 176x220 pixels plus a 1.3 megapixel camera and a microSD memory card slot. The second one is The LG KU950 - the LG's attempt conquering the mobile TV market. The KU950 is supposedly the world' first UMTS-based HSDPA/DVB-H phone. It has a swing display and sports home VCR functions such as recording and screen capture. The rotating 2.4" 262K colors TFT display has a QVGA resolution, while the handset also comes equipped with a 1.3 megapixel camera and a microSD memory card slot.

The LG KU250 bar and the LG KU950 DVB mobile

LG Prada phone

Now this year on of the keywords in the mobile handset industry is without a doubt "the touchscreen controlled mobile". After the announcement of the Apple's iPhone it became the next magic word after "ultra thin". Well, while the iPhone may or may not hit the European markets around Christmas, the LG Prada is already being showcased here. When see the LG Prada phone two things come to mind - "ultra fashionable" and "full touchscreen capability". Those are things that are not seen in any other current GSM handsets.

LG Prada phone showcased at the LG press conference

Since we did manage to get our hands on a working Prada phone - in fact on a couple of them, we will waste no time and would continue on to exploring its innovative design and technology.

LG Prada

LG Prada runs under a Flash user interface and features a large 3" LCD touchscreen display with resolution of 240 x 400 pixels. The most interesting thing about the display itself is that it's made using the capacitive touchscreen technology. What that means is that the screen uses electroconductivity to sense your touch - much like the touchpad on the popular LG Chocolate. This technology is made to be used with fingers only, so the use of a stylus is out of the question whatsoever. At only 12 mm, the LG Prada phone also has a 2 megapixel camera with Schneider-Kreuznach optics which is also able to capture video with a resolution of 400 x 240 pixels at 30fps.

We are more than happy with the speed and user-friendliness of the user interface. As you will see from our exclusive GSMArena real-life videos, it reacts with the necessary speed to enjoy it as you would any feature mobile phone. Of course the shiny black surface of the LG Prada is a real fingerprint magnet but we are somewhat used to that already since as it seems shiny surfaces and materials are trendy this year in the mobile phones.

LG Prada - the standard black & white interface

The black and white theme can be easily changed with a colorful one if it pleases you more.

LG Prada - if you prefer the color UI

Well, you might want to know when will it be out there so you can grab it. Well... When we asked the LG officials about the availability of the device, they just looked at their watch - so that about sums it up. The Prada Phone by LG is expected in selected markets as of late February 2007 and the beginning of March 2007.